Metro
Redefining Who You Are: Who Are You?
By Tolulope A. Adegoke, Ph.D.
“Who you are is related to where you came from. Many look, only a few see!” – Dr. Myles Munroe
You need to remember that sculptors look at a work in a very interesting way. I am also an artist of sorts, so I have a bit of an understanding of how artists work. One thing I have learned is that you never argue with an artist until he is finished.
Don’t discuss anything with a painter or a sculptor until his work is completed. An artist can be very rude if you disturb him before he has accomplished what he intends to do, because he sees differently than those who are not artists. An artist can walk by the stone in your front yard and see a figure in it. He may stop by your house and beg you for a stone you have walked past many times without noticing. You may even have been planning to get rid of it because it’s nuisance. But the artist walks into your yard and sees something beautiful in that stone beyond what you can imagine.
Months later, when the artist invites you to his workshop he asks, “Do you see that? Do you know where that came from?” “Italy, England or France?” you asked. “No” says the artist. “it came from your yard.” “That’s from the stone I collected from your yard.” “Do you mean…?” “Yes.” One thousand Pounds, please.” You were sitting on £1,000. But you couldn’t see the potentials in the dirty rock. You never saw a “hero” in a “zero”. Therefore, the stone that was rejected by you has ended up becoming the chief-corner-stone.
YOU ARE NOT TRASH!
Many people are being passed by, under-rated, overlooked or ignored because others don’t see what is in them. But God has revealed to me what’s in me, and I strongly believe that it is in you too. I am charged to stop and inform you: “can you really tell what’s in you?” Do you know what carry is potential? Do you know that you are not just someone born in a slum? There’s a wealth of potential in you. There is a king in your kid. There is a hero in your zero. There’s a wealth of potential in you. There is a strength in your weakness.
Sculptors sees so differently. They use “insight” to create a “foresight”. A worthy exemplar in this context is Michelangelo. They say he used to walk around a block of marble for days – just walking around it, talking to himself. First, he would see things in the rock; then he would go and take them out by creating it from those pieces.
Insight like that of a sculptor is also seen in the Holy Bible. When the world dumps, rejects you and calls you trash, and you land on the dunghill (where the garbage heap of the world is found), God walks along and picks you up. He looks deep within you and see a person of great worth, whom He would use to glorify Himself by impacting the world around him or her.
Don’t ever permit anybody to throw you away nor call you trash. When God looks at you, He sees thing that everyone else ignores. God uses the foolish things of this world to teach the wise lessons. You are worthy so much that Jesus went to cavalry to salvage and reclaim you. The Spirit of God connected to your spirit is the only true judge of your worth. Don’t accept the opinion of others because they are blind enough such that they do see what God sees.
When God looks at you, He sees things that everyone else ignore. GOD LOOKED AND SAW… God looked at “dust” and saw Adam. God looked at Adam and saw a world. He looked at Abraham and saw many nations. In Moses the murderer, God saw a deliverer. Can you just imagine looking at a stammering young man and seeing one of the greatest leader in history? God looked at David, the Shepherd boy and saw a king. When the Israelites wanted a king, God had to send Samuel to the home of Jesse. When Jesse heard why Samuel was there, he dressed up all his sons – the handsome one, the tall one, the curly-haired one, the strong one, the muscular one. All the sons of Jesse twirled out before Samuel, from the greatest to the least. With his vase of anointing oil, Samuel watched Jesse’s show as he presented his sons, even as he read out their profiles one after the other. After the very fine speech, Samuel said, “No”. The next son came out dressed like Paulson Pat and God said, “NO”. A third son gave a fine speech about philosophy, and God said “No”. Finally, after Jesse had paraded all of his sons before him, Samuel said, “I am sorry. None of these is God’s choice for king.” Do you have any other sons, may be somewhere else? Then Jesse replied, “Yes…well no. I just remembered. I do have a little boy, my youngest son. He’s just a little runt who’s out taking care of the sheep. He’s not dressed up like my other sons, nor have his hands manicured and his body scented with perfumes from the East. This guy is really smelly, because he’s been out with the sheep for quite some time.” “Bring him,” Samuel replied. “Let me look at him”. So, Jesse sent for his youngest son. When Samuel saw Jesse’s youngest son walk into the house, a little boy, he began to unscrew the lid of his vase. “I think I found the guy I’m looking for,” Samuel said. (Please note that God chose the son who was working. He was busy. God chooses busy people.) Most of us are like Jesse. We look, but we don’t see. Were you the “black sheep” in your family? (you know God likes sheep). Has your family told you that you are a nobody? Have you been written off and put out and told so many times that you will amount to nothing that you have begun to believe it? Do you really feel like the black sheep?
You are probably the one God is waiting for in the house. God sees things deep within you that others can’t see. They look at you and see nobody; God looks at you and sees a worthwhile somebody. You may spend your whole life competing with others – trying to prove that you are somebody. You may spend your whole life competing with others – trying to prove that you are somebody – and you still feel like nobody. Be free from that today! Emancipate yourself from such mental slavery! You don’t have to live with that any longer. You don’t have to try to be somebody, because you are somebody with glorious worth. You need to remember that you came out of God. You were created in His Image and Likeness. So, it is an error on your part, to look down on who you are. When you look down on WHO you are, you are indirectly or unconsciously looking down on WHOM YOU ARE! Let your focus be on your CREATOR, not those that look down on you. Look up to the INVENTOR, not His INVENTIONS!
YOU CARRY GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. First, He decided what He wanted to make something out of and then spoke to that source. When God wanted plants He spoke to the dirt. When God wanted fishes, He spoke to the waters. When God wanted animals, He spoke to the ground. Whatever God spoke to became the source from which the created thing came. Plants thus came from the dirt, fish from water and animals from the ground. Furthermore, plants return to the dirt, fish return to the sea and animals return to the ground when they die.
All things have the same components and essence as their source. What God created is, in essence, like the substance from which it came. Not only are all things composed of that from which they came, they must also remain attached to their source in order to live. All things must be maintained and sustained by where they came from. The minute a plant decides it doesn’t like the earth anymore, it dies. The minute the fish decide they are tired of water, they die. The minute animals decide, “we don’t want to eat dirt anymore,” they begin to die. Thus, whatever God created came from that to which he spoke. All things were created by God’s word to a source. The source of the creation also becomes, the essence of that creation. All things are composed of whatever they came from, and hence contain the potential of that source. That means plants only have the potential of the soil. Animals only have the potentials of dirt.
But when God was about to created human beings, He spoke to Himself: “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, in Our Likeness…” So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image of God He created him, male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27)”
God created you by speaking to Himself. You came out of God and thus bear His Image and Likeness. Therefore, carry yourself with the consciousness that you are of GOD. You carry His DNA. Whatever operates in God works in you, for you and also through you to the glory of God Almighty, in the Highest! And whoever looks down on you should be ready to face the wrath of your Creator, because God poured Himself in you to manifest on Earth through you. You carry the wholeness of God! You are not of yourself, but of God Almighty! Therefore, who you are is related to where you came from. MANY LOOK, only a FEW see!
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja to set aside the judgment that voided the timelines it issued for the 2027 general elections.
The Commission also applied for the stay of execution of the judgment, pending the determination of its appeal.
In the notice of appeal dated May 25, which INEC filed through its team of lawyers led by Dr. Alex Izinyon, SAN, the Commission nine grounds it urged the appellate court to consider and vacate the judgment the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered on May 20.
Aside from its contention that the high court erred in law when it failed to determine a jurisdictional issue it raised, INEC maintained that the legal action the Youth Party (YP) initiated against it was not only hypothetical but academic.
It argued that failure of the trial court to make pronouncements on the issues, resulted in the denial of fair hearing to the Appellant.
More so, INEC insisted that the high court erred in law when it held that: “It is clear from the wordings of Sections 29(1), 82 and 84 of the Electoral Act, 2026, the following can be understood. Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026 mandates Political Parties to submit the names of candidates in prescribed forms of the candidates who emerged from its valid primaries which such a political party intends to sponsor at the elections, not later than 120 days before the date of the General Election.
“What is required of Political Parties to do under the Electoral Act, 2026 is to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 21 days before the holding of its primaries, congresses or conventions, days before the holding of its primaries, congresses or conventions, or any conference or meeting convened for the election of its executive committees, other governing bodies for nominating candidates.
“The Defendant is not mandated to impose a timeframe for political parties to conduct their primaries provided that it will be done and submitted not later than the 120 days provided by the Electoral Act, 2026. See Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.”
INEC argued that the verdict of the trial court was against the weight of evidence placed before it by the parties.
Consequently, it prayed the appellate court for an order allowing the appeal and setting aside the judgment
The electoral body further urged the Court of Appeal to strike out YP’s case on the ground that it lacked the locus standi (legal right) to institute and maintain the action it said was merely academic.
Suspected bandits have reportedly invaded the Yashikira community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, early this morning, setting the Emir’s palace ablaze and abducting several residents, including women and children.
It was gathered that the attack occurred late at night when the heavily armed assailants stormed the community, firing sporadically.
According to sources in the area, the gunmen attacked the palace during the invasion, setting parts of the royal residence on fire before whisking away multiple victims.
Residents said the attackers operated for hours without resistance, leaving behind destruction and fear in the border community.
Another local source described the incident as terrifying, noting that villagers were caught unaware as the gunmen invaded the town under the cover of darkness.
Sources say Security forces have launched immediate rescue operations to free victims of the Yashikira abduction, which occurred on Sunday night.
Military and police operatives have established a cordon in the area as part of the efforts to rescue about 10 persons who were reportedly taken from the community in an overnight attack on the palace of the Emir of Yashikira.
The police are yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
The development comes after bandits on Saturday night invaded a prayer ground at Ori-Oke Ajaiye, on the outskirts of Ikiran village in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, killing three worshippers and abducting 15 others during a vigil.
Channels TV
By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“True leadership in Africa is not the pursuit of power, but the courage to serve — to turn the pain of yesterday into the promise of tomorrow, to bind broken hearts into one destiny, and to raise a continent where every son and daughter can stand tall, not by pulling others down, but by lifting one another higher.” – Tolulope A. Adegoke, PhD
Building upon the foundational principles and practical pathways discussed in Parts 1 and 2, this continuation explores the deeper implementation strategies, institutional reforms, cultural shifts, and long-term vision required to translate African leadership into tangible, sustainable transformation. It addresses the realities on the ground while offering forward-looking, actionable recommendations that can help Africa move from potential to performance on both regional and global stages.
Institutional Reforms as the Backbone of Transformative Leadership
Visionary leadership without strong institutions is like a beautiful dream without a foundation. Africa’s progress depends on building institutions that are resilient, transparent, and people-centred.
Leaders must prioritise civil service reform, judicial independence, and anti-corruption mechanisms that are not only punitive but preventive. For example, Rwanda’s use of performance contracts (imihigo) for public officials has created a culture of accountability and results. Similarly, Ghana’s strong electoral commission and relatively independent judiciary have helped sustain democratic stability. These models show that when institutions are strengthened, leadership becomes less about individual charisma and more about systemic effectiveness.
Regional institutions such as the African Union, ECOWAS, SADC, and the East African Community must also be reformed. They need greater financial autonomy, faster decision-making processes, and clearer enforcement mechanisms. The African Union’s current efforts to reform its Peace and Security Council and operationalise the African Standby Force are steps in the right direction, but they require consistent political will and adequate funding from member states.
Cultural and Mindset Transformation
Leadership that builds Africa must also transform mindsets. Many of the continent’s challenges are rooted in colonial-era thinking, dependency syndromes, and a culture of short-termism.
Progressive leaders should invest in cultural renewal programmes that celebrate African excellence, innovation, and resilience. This includes supporting the creative industries — Nollywood in Nigeria, Afrobeats music, and contemporary African literature — which are already projecting positive African narratives globally. Educational systems must move beyond rote learning to foster critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Youth leadership development is particularly crucial. With over 60% of Africa’s population under the age of 25, the continent’s future depends on preparing young people not just for jobs, but for leadership. Initiatives like the African Union’s Youth Agenda and national youth service programmes should be expanded and made more impactful.
Economic Transformation and Self-Reliance in Practice
True self-reliance requires deliberate economic restructuring. Leaders must champion value addition in agriculture, mining, and natural resources. Instead of exporting raw cocoa, cotton, or crude oil, African countries should invest in processing facilities that create jobs and capture more value domestically.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers a historic opportunity. When fully implemented, it can boost intra-African trade, reduce dependence on external markets, and create new industries. Leaders who actively remove non-tariff barriers, harmonise standards, and invest in cross-border infrastructure will be remembered as the architects of Africa’s economic renaissance.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) should be strengthened, with clear frameworks that protect national interests while attracting responsible investment. Countries like Morocco and Ethiopia have shown how strategic industrial policies can attract foreign direct investment while building local capacity.
Global Relevance: Africa as a Solution Provider
Africa must stop seeing itself solely as a recipient of global solutions and begin positioning itself as a contributor. The continent’s vast renewable energy potential, youthful population, and rich biodiversity give it unique advantages in addressing global challenges such as climate change, food security, and digital innovation.
Leaders who understand this will invest in research and development, patent African innovations, and engage confidently in global forums. The success of African pharmaceutical companies during the COVID-19 pandemic and the growth of African tech unicorns demonstrate that the continent can compete and lead when given the right environment.
A Balanced and Hopeful Conclusion
Africa stands at a historic crossroads. The challenges — poverty, inequality, climate vulnerability, and governance gaps — are real and significant. Yet the opportunities — a youthful population, abundant natural resources, cultural richness, and growing regional integration — are even greater.
Leadership remains the decisive variable. When leaders rise above narrow interests to serve the collective good, Africa does not just survive — it thrives and offers the world new models of resilience, innovation, and inclusive growth.
The path forward requires a new covenant: between leaders and citizens, between nations and regions, and between Africa and the global community. This covenant must be rooted in trust, mutual accountability, and shared vision. With the right leadership — courageous, ethical, inclusive, and strategic — Africa can forge a new era of self-reliance, unity, and global relevance.
The question is not whether Africa can rise. The question is whether its leaders, supported by an awakened citizenry, will summon the will, wisdom, and courage to make that rise unstoppable. The world is watching, and history is waiting to record the choices made in this decisive decade.
Africa’s story is still being written. With visionary leadership, it can become one of triumph, dignity, and global excellence.
Dr. Tolulope A. Adegoke, AMBP-UN is a globally recognized scholar-practitioner and thought leader at the nexus of security, governance, and strategic leadership. His mission is dedicated to advancing ethical governance, strategic human capital development, resilient nation building, and global peace. He can be reached via: tolulopeadegoke01@gmail.com, globalstageimpacts@gmail.com
